Guys, Life Expectancy Just Made a Major Leap All Around the World

Well, here’s a bit of trivia to send you into the weekend: Global life expectancy has increased by five years, with the average international age at over 71 years old. The World Health Organization just released a report sharing that the leap happened between 2000 and 2015, with Africa benefitting the most where the average life expectancy went up 9.4 years.

Why the spike in Africa? The movement to provide bed nets treated with insecticide has been proved to decrease the number of deaths in children under the age of 5 by a whopping 20 percent.

“The world has made great strides in reducing the needless suffering and premature deaths that arise from preventable and treatable diseases,” said Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, in a statement. “But the gains have been uneven. Supporting countries to move towards universal health coverage based on strong primary care is the best thing we can do to make sure no-one is left behind.”

There are also a bunch of countries that can brag their life expectancy is over 82 years old (we’re looking at you Australia and Spain, among others).

Interestingly, one consistency all over the world is that women still live longer than men, in some countries by way more than others. In Russia, for example, on average women live 11.6 years longer than dudes.

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